The old crone
"It is the prophesy!" she cried. "The Syawnee will mow down all folks like a steppe fire! No kingdom is safe!" Her wrinkled eyes narrowed when she got sight of Brox. "... Who is that scarecrow? Why are you standing here like rabbits? Get him!" The warriors needed some moments to understand. So did Brox, too. "The priestess! What an evil hag!" he murmured. He yanked out the fuse, tied it to the sac with all of his black powder and stuffed it deeply into a hole of the decayed wall he hid behind. Just when the furies began to yell he lit it and ran away into the darkness. However the fuse was pretty short. After a few leaps the charge exploded. Brox hit the ground - luckily, because he did not realize that he had reached a steep cliff, and one further jump would have equaled a cropper into the abyss. When painfully sliding over the edge he catched a spiny branch of a bramble. He heard the Shyawnee's cries of pain and rage - he could feel their pain - or was it the pain going from the bramble throuh his hand, pervading his whole body? While desperately trying to cling to firm ground with the other hand he saw a flamy shine of light where he reckoned the furies' camp. Probably something new happened because now the Syawnee shouted around in sheer confusion. Brox could not stand the pain any more. He relinquished the spiny branch, glided off the edge and tumbled down the cliff. It was not very high, but high enough that Brox plunged badly and remained consciousness at the bottom. A diffuse light of the campfires eased the sneaking of Kip, Gigantus and Mordimer. Suddenly a white glare flashed up from Brox' direction. A number of furies rushed out of their tents, catched their weapons and hurried out of the camp. Kip peered out of the copse and felt instantly the source of the hostile magic: On the central clearance of the camp was a peculiar installation, surrounded by three fires, consisting of three double axes and a potted plant. "This thingie must be destroyed!" Kip whispered to his companions. Instantly his sensitive nose perceived something else: the smell of horses. They sneaked closer to the camp. Kip and Mordimer were completely silent, but Gigantus tapped onto a dry branch which cracked loudly. Certainly they would have been spotted if not an explosion-like noise from Brox' direction would have covered it. Now Kip got a plan: "Mordimer, you turn to the right. The furies' horses are ahead. Cut them loose and chase them away. But be careful - I am sure they are guarded." "But - " Mordimer replied startledly. "No 'but'! You are an excellent stalker. Show your guts, quickly! Our lifes depend on you!" Silently wailing Mordimer disappeared into the darkness. "And you, Gigantus, must squall like a berserk onto the clearing and destroy this thingie in the middle. Be quick and level everything that dares to thwart you!" "But there are two guards in front of this tent ..." Kip snorted and rolled his eyes: "Right. I'll try to distract them by inflaming the neighbouring tent. Then, if you manage to destroy their sanctuary, they will loose both, courage and fighting abilities. Then it will be easy for you to disarray them, while I can search for our staffs. And as soon as we have them, we'll be right away in no time!"